HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 byMichael Kerrisk, author ofThe Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depthLinux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, lookhere. Hosting byjambit GmbH. |  |
NAME |SYNOPSIS |DESCRIPTION |RETURN VALUE |ERRORS |STANDARDS |SEE ALSO |COLOPHON | |
TIOCLINUX(2const)TIOCLINUX(2const)TIOCLINUX - ioctls for console terminal and virtual consoles
#include <linux/tiocl.h>/* Definition ofTIOCL_*constants */#include <sys/ioctl.h>int ioctl(intfd, TIOCLINUX, void *argp);
The action of the following ioctls depends on the first byte in the struct pointed to byargp, referred to here as thesubcode. These are legal only for the superuser or the owner of the current terminal.subcode=0 Dump the screen. Disappeared in Linux 1.1.92. (With Linux 1.1.92 or later, read from/dev/vcsN or/dev/vcsaN instead.)subcode=1 Get task information. Disappeared in Linux 1.1.92.subcode=TIOCL_SETSEL Set selection.argp points to a struct { char subcode; short xs, ys, xe, ye; short sel_mode; };xs andys are the starting column and row.xe andye are the ending column and row. (Upper left corner is row=column=1.)sel_mode may be one of the following operations:TIOCL_SELCHAR Select character-by-character. The indicated screen characters are highlighted and saved in a kernel buffer. Since Linux 6.7, using this selection mode requires theCAP_SYS_ADMINcapability.TIOCL_SELWORD Select word-by-word, expanding the selection outwards to align with word boundaries. The indicated screen characters are highlighted and saved in a kernel buffer. Since Linux 6.7, using this selection mode requires theCAP_SYS_ADMINcapability.TIOCL_SELLINE Select line-by-line, expanding the selection outwards to select full lines. The indicated screen characters are highlighted and saved in a kernel buffer. Since Linux 6.7, using this selection mode requires theCAP_SYS_ADMINcapability.TIOCL_SELPOINTER Show the pointer at position (xs,ys) or (xe,ye), whichever is later in text flow order.TIOCL_SELCLEAR Remove the current selection highlight, if any, from the console holding the selection. This does not affect the stored selected text.TIOCL_SELMOUSEREPORT Make the terminal report (xs,ys) as the current mouse location using thexterm(1) mouse tracking protocol (seeconsole_codes(4)). The lower 4 bits ofsel_mode (TIOCL_SELBUTTONMASK) indicate the desired button press and modifier key information for the mouse event. If mouse reporting is not enabled for the terminal, this operation yields anEINVALerror. Since Linux 6.7, using this selection mode requires theCAP_SYS_ADMINcapability.subcode=TIOCL_PASTESEL Paste selection. The characters in the selection buffer are written tofd. Since Linux 6.7, using this subcode requires theCAP_SYS_ADMINcapability.subcode=TIOCL_UNBLANKSCREEN Unblank the screen.subcode=TIOCL_SELLOADLUT Sets contents of a 256-bit look up table defining characters in a "word", for word-by-word selection. (Since Linux 1.1.32.) Since Linux 6.7, using this subcode requires theCAP_SYS_ADMINcapability.subcode=TIOCL_GETSHIFTSTATEargp points to a char which is set to the value of the kernel variableshift_state. (Since Linux 1.1.32.)subcode=TIOCL_GETMOUSEREPORTINGargp points to a char which is set to the value of the kernel variablereport_mouse. (Since Linux 1.1.33.)subcode=8 Dump screen width and height, cursor position, and all the character-attribute pairs. (Linux 1.1.67 through Linux 1.1.91 only. With Linux 1.1.92 or later, read from/dev/vcsa* instead.)subcode=9 Restore screen width and height, cursor position, and all the character-attribute pairs. (Linux 1.1.67 through Linux 1.1.91 only. With Linux 1.1.92 or later, write to/dev/vcsa* instead.)subcode=TIOCL_SETVESABLANK Handles the Power Saving feature of the new generation of monitors. VESA screen blanking mode is set toargp[1], which governs what screen blanking does:0Screen blanking is disabled.1The current video adapter register settings are saved, then the controller is programmed to turn off the vertical synchronization pulses. This puts the monitor into "standby" mode. If your monitor has an Off_Mode timer, then it will eventually power down by itself.2The current settings are saved, then both the vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses are turned off. This puts the monitor into "off" mode. If your monitor has no Off_Mode timer, or if you want your monitor to power down immediately when the blank_timer times out, then you choose this option. (Caution: Powering down frequently will damage the monitor.) (Since Linux 1.1.76.)subcode=TIOCL_SETKMSGREDIRECT Change target of kernel messages ("console"): by default, and if this is set to0, messages are written to the currently active VT. The VT to write to is a single byte followingsubcode. (Since Linux 2.5.36.)subcode=TIOCL_GETFGCONSOLE Returns the number of VT currently in foreground. (Since Linux 2.5.36.)subcode=TIOCL_SCROLLCONSOLE Scroll the foreground VT by the specified amount oflines down, or half the screen if0.lines is *(((int32_t *)&subcode) + 1). (Since Linux 2.5.67.)subcode=TIOCL_BLANKSCREEN Blank the foreground VT, ignoring "pokes" (typing): can only be unblanked explicitly (by switching VTs, to text mode, etc.). (Since Linux 2.5.71.)subcode=TIOCL_BLANKEDSCREEN Returns the number of VT currently blanked,0if none. (Since Linux 2.5.71.)subcode=16 Never used.subcode=TIOCL_GETKMSGREDIRECT Returns target of kernel messages. (Since Linux 2.6.17.)subcode=TIOCL_GETBRACKETEDPASTE Returns1if the application advertised bracketed paste compatibility to the terminal,0otherwise. (Since Linux 6.16.)On success, 0 is returned (except where indicated). On failure, -1 is returned, anderrno is set to indicate the error.
EINVALargp is invalid.EPERMInsufficient permission.
Linux.
ioctl(2),ioctl_console(2)
This page is part of theman-pages (Linux kernel and C library user-space interface documentation) project. Information about the project can be found at ⟨https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/⟩. If you have a bug report for this manual page, see ⟨https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/docs/man-pages/man-pages.git/tree/CONTRIBUTING⟩. This page was obtained from the tarball man-pages-6.15.tar.gz fetched from ⟨https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/man-pages/⟩ on 2025-08-11. If you discover any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is a better or more up- to-date source for the page, or you have corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON (which isnot part of the original manual page), send a mail to man-pages@man7.orgLinux man-pages 6.15 2025-06-11TIOCLINUX(2const)Pages that refer to this page:ioctl_console(2), ioctl_tty(2)
HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 byMichael Kerrisk, author ofThe Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depthLinux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, lookhere. Hosting byjambit GmbH. | |